Photos and Video: Storm with Shelf Cloud Approaching Stony Brook

By Mike Busch 4-21-2020

A line of severe storms rolled through New York City and Long Island this afternoon, generating radar indicated tornado warnings for parts of New York City and the north shore of Nassau County. I started getting some warnings on my phone around 3:00 and took a quick ride from my office to Stony Brook Harbor, usually a good spot for storms moving in from the west.

As soon as I arrived a could see a big shelf cloud spanning the horizon and moving about 40 mph right over my location. Once it was directly overhead some swirling clouds lowered that are some times referred to as Whales Mouth. I shot some video above but honestly, they don’t do justice to the scene. I soon had to retreat back to my car to avoid the downpour and had a period of small hail as well. Not bad for the first real storm of the season.